


Winter

by flintwoodandco



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Bitterness, Confessions, Drowning, Enemies to Friends, Flintwood, M/M, Near Death Experiences, Winter, explaining way too much in the tags and summary, might as well just type the ending in the tags
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-02
Updated: 2017-01-02
Packaged: 2018-09-13 14:37:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,335
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9128029
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flintwoodandco/pseuds/flintwoodandco
Summary: Oliver falls through the ice





	

It had been a brisk winter morning when it happened. Oliver was feeling a bit stifled in his house, needing to just get out for just a short walk. Practicing for Quidditch was still a ways away and he hated being limited to planning out plays instead of testing them with the team. Being out in the cold air offered some comfort and his mind raced with the thought of the oncoming games as he followed the path into the woods. 

Eventually, Oliver found his way along the river bank and shoved his hands into his pockets as he followed the winding stream. He stayed on the safety of the bank, however, his eyes only occasionally straying to the frozen water. Even though people skated on the river every year, he was always too scared to walk on the ice himself. He had heard too many awful stories and didn’t want to risk it. 

As he tried to distract himself with other thoughts, movement caught his eye and he cursed when he saw Marcus coming down on the opposite bank. Oliver had often tried to ignore the fact that he and Marcus were practically backyard neighbors but school breaks made that difficult. Hoping Marcus would ignore him, Oliver tried to focus on the ground, but couldn’t help instinctively turning his head when Marcus called his name. 

“Bored already?” Marcus sneered. 

Oliver knew this voice all too well and tried to ignore the taunts from Marcus. Of course, Marcus didn’t let up and Oliver stood in his spot, trying to quell his anger. They were mostly personal attacks, which he could handle, but it got tiresome after a while.

“Look, Flint, we fight enough in school. Just leave me alone already,” Oliver called over to the other bank where Marcus had taken to just standing as well. 

“Is that the best you’ve got? You’re such a sorry excuse for a Gryffindor. Bet your teammates would rather-”

At this, Oliver could no longer control his emotions. No one was allowed to say anything about his players and he slid down the bank to march over to Marcus’ side. Marcus seemed pleased and Oliver couldn’t wait to punch the grin away, his footsteps heavy in the untouched snow. 

Then, his feet gave way underneath him and Oliver was plunged into freezing water. He couldn’t do anything at first, his mind in shock until his body screamed at him to move and he flailed to the surface. He tried to grip onto the ice, anything, but his soaked clothes were dragging him down and all he could do was struggle to resurface, the water clogging his mouth and nose. Oliver felt his body slowly losing strength as he continued to fight and then he felt something touch his hand. With his last bit of will, Oliver latched onto it and hoped this was salvation as the surface of the water grew closer. He gasped when he was finally pulled onto the ice, before his body took to coughing up all the water that had entered his body. His grip was still steadfast on the object and he glanced up to see what had saved him when he regained some of his breathing. To his shock, he saw Marcus gripping tightly to the end of a long stick and Oliver saw something in the other boy’s eyes that he had never seen before. Fear. 

Marcus quickly threw the stick to the side and hauled Oliver up onto the bank, making quick work of removing Oliver’s coat and then the layers underneath. Oliver was shaking too much to respond, but he gave Marcus a confused look.

“If you don’t get these off, you’ll freeze before we even get close to my house.” 

Marcus had only removed Oliver’s top layers before taking off his own coat and wrapping it tightly around Oliver’s shivering body. Oliver felt his body grow weak again and let Marcus drag him to his feet as the older boy led them towards the opposite direction of Oliver’s house.

Too cold to protest, Oliver let Marcus take him wherever as long as it meant getting into warmth as soon as possible.

~

“You could’ve let me drown you know. Save you the trouble of losing to Gryffindor this year.”

Oliver was sat in front of a large fire, dressed in clothes a bit too big for him and a cup of tea in his hands. 

When they finally got to Marcus’ home, the rest of Oliver’s clothing was removed followed by Marcus throwing several blankets on top of Oliver in a slight panic. He shoved Oliver in front of the fireplace as well and did everything he could to stop Oliver’s shivering. No one else was apparently in the house, leaving Marcus to fuss over Oliver.

“Mm,” was all Marcus replied with as he stared out the window, snow just starting to fall. 

Oliver sighed, unsure of how to progress from here. Marcus just saved his life after all and he’d be lying to himself if he said he wasn’t curious as to why Marcus had looked so afraid. 

“I don’t hate you, you know,” Marcus spoke up, his gaze still at the window. “Not enough to kill you.”

Oliver wanted to laugh at this, but he saw Marcus’ contemplative look and instead took a sip from his mug. “Then why all the rude comments? Why rile me up?”

This made Marcus look at him and Oliver held his stare. 

“I don’t know.”

Oliver couldn’t help rolling his eyes at this and turned back to looking at the fire, the wood crackling as the flames spread through it. 

“We really didn’t get off on the right foot, did we?” Oliver began quietly, holding the mug close to his body. “The first time we met, we already hated each other. It’s never changed.”

Oliver glanced around the room, feeling a different kind of cold than from outside. The walls were bare and the room itself was dark despite that there were large windows surrounding him. The only warmth seemed to come from the fire and even that didn’t do much against the room’s heavy atmosphere. 

“Do you want it to?” 

Oliver could hear the timidness in Marcus’ voice and wondered just what he was getting at. Through all their years of knowing each other, they had never had a moment like this. Nothing that admitted their true feelings to each other, whatever they may be. Oliver had to admit he had hoped for friendship with Marcus at one point, but couldn’t believe that Marcus would feel the same. 

“Do you?” Oliver finally replied.

A shuffle made Oliver turn his head and he watched as Marcus moved from his chair to standing in front of the tall windows, a contrasting silhouette with the blinding snow. 

With a huff of resolution, Oliver set down the mug and started searching for a coat. “I should go.” 

Marcus made no move to help so Oliver figured anything was fair game at this point. He started to put on a coat that he hoped was Marcus’ as well as shoes before heading to the front door. 

“Wait,” Marcus called and, against his better judgement, Oliver stopped, hearing the footsteps approach him. “I-uh-the snow is getting bad, you shouldn’t go out.”

“I live just down the road,” Oliver shrugged, tired of playing this game with Marcus. He opened the door and stood for a moment, staring into the falling snow.

“Please...stay.”

The way Marcus’ voice broke with those two words made Oliver hesitate and he gripped onto the doorknob, battling the conflict in his mind. At this, the snow seemed to come down even harder, which Oliver glared at with a silent challenge. He could feel Marcus waiting with bated breath and Oliver knew he was holding his own as well.

With a small nod, Oliver figured worse decisions could be made and closed the door to take his place back in front of the fire.

**Author's Note:**

> I can't even begin to tell you where this came from (okay maybe I can idk).
> 
>  
> 
> [Tumblr](http://flintwoodandco.tumblr.com)


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